Jew that has no wife abideth without joy, without a blessing, and without any good. Without joy, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 26), "And thou shalt reject, thou and thy household;" without blessing, as it is written (Ezek. xliv. 30), "That He may cause a blessing to rest on thy household;" without any good, for it is written (Gen. ii. 8), "It is not good that man should be alone."
The Jew that has no wife is not a man; for it is written (Gen. v. 2), "Male and female created He them and called their name man." To which Rabbi Eleazar adds, "So every one who has no landed property is no man; for it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth (the land, that is), hath He given to the children of man.'"
Three things did Moses ask of God:—1. He asked that the Shechinah might rest upon Israel; 2. That the Shechinah might rest upon none but Israel; and 3. That God's ways might be made known unto him; and all these requests were granted.
What was the Shechinah? Was it the presence of a Divine person or only of a Divine power? The following quotations will show what is the teaching of the Talmud on the matter, and will be read with interest by the theologian, whether Jew or Christian.
Where do we learn that when ten persons pray together the Shechinah is with them? In Ps. lxxxii. 1, where it is written, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty." And where do we learn that when two sit together and study the law the Shechinah is with them? In Mal. iii. 16, where it is written, "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it." (Berachoth, fol. 6, col. 1.)
Where do we learn that the Shechinah does strengthen the sick? In Ps. xli. 3, where it is written, "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing." (Shabbath, fol. 12, col. 2.)
He who goes from the Synagogue to the lecture-room, and from the lecture-room back to the Synagogue, will become worthy to receive the presence of the Shechinah; as it is written (Ps. lxxxiv. 1), "They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." (Moed Katan, fol. 29, col. 1.)
Rabbi Yossi says, "The Shechinah never came down here below, nor did Moses and Elijah ever ascend on high, because it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men.'" (Succah, fol. 5, col. 1.)
Esther "stood in the inner court of the King's house" (Esth. v, 1). Rabbi Levi says, "When she reached the house of the images the Shechinah departed from her. Then she exclaimed, 'My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?'" (Meggillah, fol. 15, col. 2.)
"But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day" (Deut. iv. 4). Is it possible to cleave to the Shechinah? Is it not written (ibid., verse 24), "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire"? The reply is:—He that bestows his daughter in marriage on a disciple of the wise (that is, a Rabbi), or does business on behalf of the disciples of the wise, or maintains them from his property, Scripture accounts it as if he did cleave to the Shechinah. (Kethuboth, fol. 111, col. 25.)
He who is angry has no regard even for the Shechinah; as it is written (Ps. x. 4), "The wicked, when his anger rises, does not inquire after God; God is not in all his thoughts." (Nedarim, fol. 22, col. 2.)
He who visits the sick should not sit upon the bed, nor even upon a stool or a chair beside it, but he should wrap his mantle round him and sit upon the floor, because of the Shechinah which rests at the head of the bed of the invalid; as it is written (Ps. xli. 3), "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing." (Ibid., fol. 40, col. 1.)
When Israel went up out of the Red Sea, both the babe on its mother's lap and the suckling at the breast saw the Shechinah, and said, "This is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation;" as it is written (Ps. viii. 2), "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength." (Soteh, fol. 30, col. 2.)
Where do we read that the Shechinah is present everywhere? In Zech. ii. 3, where it is written, "And behold the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him." It is not said went out after him, but "went out to meet him." From this we know that the Shechinah is present everywhere. (Bava Bathra fol. 25, col. 1.)
Rabbi Akiva says, "For three things I admire the Medes:—1. When they carve meat, they do it on the table; 2. When they kiss, they only do so upon the hand; 3. And when they consult, they do so only in the field."
The stone which Og, king of Bashan, meant to throw upon Israel is the subject of a tradition delivered on Sinai. "The camp of Israel I see," he said, "extends three miles; I shall therefore go and root up a mountain three miles in extent and throw it upon them." So off he went, and finding such a mountain, raised it on his head, but the Holy One—blessed be He!—sent an army of ants against him, which so bored the mountain over his head that it slipped down upon his shoulders, from which he could not lift it, because his teeth, protruding, had riveted it upon him. This explains that which is written (Ps. iii. 7), "Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly;" where read not "Thou hast broken," but "Thou hast ramified," that is, "Thou hast caused to branch out." Moses being ten ells in height, seized an axe ten ells long, and springing up ten ells, struck a blow on Og's ankle and killed him.
This same story is given with more than Talmudic exaggeration in the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, while the author of the Book of Jasher (chap. lxv., verses 23, 24) makes the camp and the mountain forty miles in extent. The giant here figures in antediluvian tradition. He is said to have been saved at the Flood by laying hold of the ark, and being fed day by day through a hole in the side of the ark by Noah himself. A tradition which says the soles of his feet were forty miles long at once explains all the extraordinary feats ascribed to him.
Rav Yehudah used to say, "Three things shorten a man's days and years:—1. Neglecting to read the law when it is given to him for that purpose; seeing it is written (Deut. xxx. 20), 'For He (who gave it) is thy life and the length of thy days.' 2. Omitting to repeat the customary benediction over a cup of blessing; for it is written (Gen. xii. 3), 'And I will bless them that bless thee.' 3. And the assumption of a Rabbinical air; for Rabbi Chama bar Chanena says, 'Joseph died before any of his brethren, because he domineered over them.'"
The first of these refers to the reading of the law in public worship, the second to a practice after meals when more than two adult Jews were present, and the third to the dictatorial air often assumed by the Rabbis.
Three things proceed by pre-eminence from God Himself:—Famine, plenty, and a wise ruler. Famine (2 Kings viii. 2): "The Lord hath called for a famine;" plenty (Ezek. xxxvi. 29): "I will call for corn and increase it;" a wise ruler; for it is written (Exod. xxxi. 2), "I have called by name Bezaleel." Rabbi Yitzchak says, "A ruler is not to be appointed unless the community be first consulted. God first consulted Moses, then Moses consulted the nation concerning the appointment of Bezaleel."
Three dreams come to pass:—That which is dreamed in the morning; that which is also dreamed by one's neighbor; and a dream which is interpreted within a dream; to which some add, one that is dreamed by the same person twice; as it is written (Gen. xli. 32), "And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice."
Three things tranquilize the mind of man:—Melody, scenery, and sweet odor. Three things develop the mind of man:—A fine house, a handsome wife,
